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Breakfast & Brunch | March 23, 2022

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

This recipe for Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs is the best way to cook perfect hard boiled or soft boiled eggs! If you’re looking for a fool proof, mess proof way to cook eggs that turn out perfect every time, this recipe is for you!

Living beneath your privledges?

If you have an Instant Pot and aren’t cooking your hard boiled or soft boiled eggs in the Pot, you’re living beneath your privileges! Seriously. This method for cooking eggs will change your life. And if you don’t have in Instant Pot yet, put it on your list of small appliances you need. The price hovers right around $75 for the 6 quart model (the one I use the most).

Make a batch of beautiful Deviled Eggs with your IP hard boiled eggs!

While we are on the subject of praise and options, I’m often asked which IP I recommend. If you have a family of 4-5, I recommend the 6 quart. If you cook for more than 4-5 people buy an  8 quart model. I have both, mine are both the Instant Pot brand. Both are basic models (not bluetooth) and I use them weekly. Even with just the two of us at home, I’m constantly using the IP.  It can be on your doorstep tomorrow with the help of our friends at AMAZON. It’s also worth mentioning SEVERAL of you have told me you purchased the 3 quart IP for the sole purpose of cooking hard boiled eggs!

Get Fresh…

Remember when we had to let eggs sit in the fridge for a week (or two) before hard boiling in order to be able to peel the eggs easily?  Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs are a game changer.  NO MORE UGLY PEELED EGGS!  The eggs come out perfectly peeled every single time. If you use your Instant Pot for nothing else, this one recipe or method for cooking eggs will justify every penny you spent on the pot. I always cook extra eggs to make sure we have enough for our favorite  Deviled Eggs!

The dreaded green ring…

The color green + hard boiled eggs= not a good combo

Years ago, I went to a restaurant with my mom in the PNW.  I ordered a seafood salad, Cobb style. The salad came with two eggs, hard boiled , cut in half on the platter. Both of the eggs had big green rings around the yolks.  Green rings around yellow yolks are not attractive.  

Why does this happen? A chemical reaction occurs between the sulfur in the egg whites and yolks when the eggs are cooked for too long, creating the unattractive  green ring around the yolk. It doesn’t effect the taste and isn’t harmful to your health, but doesn’t make for a pretty hard boiled egg! Follow this recipe, and you’ll eliminate the dreaded green ring.

A few more tips for cooking Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

Does size matter? I experimented with small to extra large eggs, I found the time of cooking to be the most important factor. The eggs cooked for the exact same time whether small or x large turned out almost identical doneness. Here are photos according to cooking time:

1. Soft cooked egg (below) for 2 minutes

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

2. Medium cooked egg (below) for 3 minutes

Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

3. Hard cooked egg (below) for 5 minutes

Does altitude matter when cooking eggs in the pressure cooker?

Altitude– does it make a difference? I’m not sure. I live at about 5,000 ft above sea level. The eggs tested were all cooked at my current elevation. If you are at sea level, I’d love to hear your results and alterations to this recipe. I’ve heard there is a slight difference in cook time depending on elevation, but my guess is,  this applies to much higher elevations,  above 7-8,ooo feet or more.


Numbers-I cooked the eggs in four groups of batches in the Instant Pot: groups of 4 eggs, 6 eggs and 12 eggs. I did not see any difference in amount of eggs or changes to cooking time depending on the size of the Instant Pot I used. As I said earlier, I have both 6 & 8 quart Instant Pots.

The rack– I used the rack that comes with the Instant Pot to cook the eggs. The eggs will scorch if cooked directly on the bottom of the insert to the Instant Pot, so make sure to use the metal rack, or a metal or silicone steaming basket.


White or brown eggs– does it matter? Traditionally, white eggs have much thinner shells than brown eggs. White eggs tend to crack easier using the Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs method of cooking than brown eggs. If you are coloring eggs, I prefer a smaller egg, they seem to yield less cracks and breaks in the shells after cooking. My choice for eggs used for coloring? Medium size white eggs. I also think a medium size egg is perfect for making into ABK Classic Deviled Eggs!

Ice bath or simply cold water? The eggs peel easily when submerged in cold water or an ice bath. I simply place the eggs in a bowl in the sink and run cold water over in a small stream for about a minute. You may also place ice in a bowl, add cold water and then add the eggs to the ice bath after cooking. It is important to cool the eggs down after cooking or they will continue to cook in the shells. One of the batches I cooked I forgot about,  and cooled with a bit of cold water, but the eggs weren’t completely cooled down, so they continued to cook in their shells, yielding the green ring (see paragraph above for reasons why the green ring appears).

Soft boiled eggs are best served hot! Run a little cold water over the soft cooked egg before cutting for easy handling. Then, scoop the egg out of the shell. If the white or yolk seem too soft on a soft boiled egg, test one egg for doneness, then allow the eggs to sit at room temperature for a few minutes. The eggs will have a chance to continue to cook inside of the shell and firm up a bit. Remember, this only works if you have not cooled the egg down initially in a cold water or ice bath. Once the egg is cooled with cold water, the cooking process stops inside of the shell.

Make sure to leave a comment and rate this recipe after you’ve used this method in your Instant Pot and let us know about any alterations you’ve made!

Originally posted in 2018, updated in 2022

4.95 from 18 votes
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Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

I have tested this recipe with a 6 and 8 quart Instant Pot brand Electric Pressure Cooker
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Author Si Foster, A Bountiful Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 4, 6 or 12 eggs free of cracks, small to extra large
  • 1 cup cold water

Instructions

  1. Place rack (or metal or silicone steam basket) in Instant Pot.
  2. Carefully place eggs in the Instant Pot on rack.
  3. Add one cup cold, warm or hot water to pot.
  4. Place the lid on the pot, making sure the rubber sealing ring inside of lid is in place.
  5. Place the lid on the Instant Pot, lock into place.
  6. Make sure the pressure release valve is in the seal position.
  7. Using the MANUAL setting or HIGH PRESSURE Setting, adjust the timer to 5 minutes for hard boiled, 3 minutes for medium set yolks or 2 minutes for soft boiled eggs.
  8. When the timer goes off, carefully release the pressure manually using the pressure release valve.
  9. Remove the eggs and set in a bowl filled with ice water. You may also run a stream of cool water over the eggs while in a bowl.
  10. If cooking eggs for soft boil, remove and set the eggs in cool water for about 30 seconds to a minute for easier handling, then remove and set in bowl and cut in half with sharp knife. Scoop out the cooked egg, including the yolk into a small clean bowl for serving.

Recipe Notes

-For soft boiled eggs, the eggs will firm up and become less runny (including the whites) as they sit. Do not leave in cold water bath for longer than a minute or eventually the egg yolk will become completely firm.
-The eggs peel quite easily when submerged in cold water or an ice bath. I simply place the eggs in a bowl in the sink and run cold water over in a small stream for about a minute.
-No matter the amount of eggs, 4 or 12, I use 1 cup of cold water.

61 thoughts on “Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs

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Recipe Rating




    1. I have the 8 quart insta pot. I set it on high pressure for five minutes on the pressure cook option. When I hit start, the cooker can went on for five minutes as it rose to pressure then to warm. There was no cook time. What did I do wrong?

  1. 5 stars
    I live in Denver & do 4 minutes pressure with 4 minutes natural release for large eggs.
    They are perfectly cooked.
    Thanks ABK for all of your wonderful recipes – Instant Pot & otherwise!

      1. Hi Keri, since you’re living at a higher altitude, I would cook the eggs for a couple minutes longer. Hope this helps and thanks for asking!
        xo
        Si

    1. Hi Beth sorry I missed this comment earlier! Add the water to the pot before sealing the lid. Hope this helps!
      xo
      Si

  2. I have the 6qt instant pot that I love but I also bought the 3qt iP just for eggs. Crazy I know, but it’s just so handy to pull out for smaller batches. 4 mins to cook > 3 to rest > manual release > ice water bath. Perfect eggs! I absolutely will not even bother cooking them any other way now.

  3. I tried this today and it was amazing. I have the crockpot brand electric pressure cooker instead of instant pot, so I used the steam setting (don’t a manual setting) but i followed the other directions exactly. It worked so well and made boiling eggs so much easier. I will only do it this way now!!

  4. 5 stars
    Just cooked my eggs for the first time in my IP. Thanks to your hard boiled egg recipe.
    They turned out perfectly! My daughter even noticed that the eggs were not green.
    Thanks for all of your wonderful recipes.

  5. 5 stars
    These turned out perfect! What a great way to boil eggs. Thanks Si! And even though my altitude is 9500 feet, 5 minutes was just right.

  6. I did 4 minutes and my whites and yolks were still very runny. I usually do 5 minutes and then a 5 minutes natural release, and they are great, but decided I wanted a softer yolk this time. This was too soft unfortunately.

  7. Hey Si! Thank you so much for sharing this with us! I just tried the hard boiled eggs, and I had four cracked eggs… any ideas what I might have done wrong? I’m excited to see how these turn our verses my boiling water eggs that are still cooking. Thanks again!

    1. Hi Emily,
      The eggs may have had tiny cracks before starting. I’ve boiled dozens of eggs this way and occasionally have a cracked egg or two, but this also happens using the stove top method. Carefully look at the eggs when purchasing. Also some eggs have very thin shells and crack easily!
      Thanks for reading ABK,
      xo
      Si

  8. Hey Si! Thanks for sharing this simple way to cook boiled eggs- I love it! I just tried it and had four cracked eggs. Any ideas of what I might have done wrong? I’m excited to try my instant pot eggs verses my boiling eggs that are still cooking!

    1. Emily,
      Did you remember to place your eggs on the rack before cooking, not directly on the bottom of the IP insert? Also check for small cracks before cooking. If your egg has even a small crack, the pressure will crack the egg further. I’m interested to know how the IP vs. boiled eggs worked.
      Thanks for reading ABK!
      xo,
      Si

  9. 5 stars
    Yep, perfect every time (I’m in Utah)! So happy I found this, thank you for sharing. I’ll never boil eggs the “old-fashioned way” again.

  10. 5 stars
    I also live in Bountiful and I’ve been doing my eggs for 5 minutes, with a 5 minute NR. They’re perfectly hardboiled every time. For Easter, I actually tried the “foolproof” method over at Mel’s Kitchen Café instead, and I was sorely disappointed–pretty much a first for Mel’s recipes. I just kept thinking, should have stuck with my IP eggs!!

    1. Ahhh Well,I totally agree the IP makes hard boiled eggs SO EASY. Mel is an amazing cook! I haven’t tried her foolproof method for eggs, but I do know that altitude, different appliances effect outcome at times. I don’t think Ill ever hard boil another way besides in the IP. It’s just TOO EASY.
      thanks for reading ABK
      xo
      Si

  11. Thank you Si! I finally got an instant pot and this was the first thing I tried. I no longer hate preparing hard boiled eggs. This was a cinch. Thank you! 😘

    1. Shurelle,
      I’m glad you’ve tried your Instant Pot and this recipe worked well for you! Let me know what other recipes you try. You will love your IP – I guarantee it. Thanks for reading ABK.
      xo,
      Si

  12. I’ve been doing my hard boiled eggs in the instant pot for about a year and there is NO going back! The ease of peeling alone is enough reason!
    Thanks for all your awesome recipes and tips Si!

  13. I just made these for the first time and they turned out PERFECT! Thanks for another great method, Si!

    1. You’re welcome, Amber! I’m so glad they turned out well for you. This instant pot method is hard to beat and so convenient. Thanks for reading ABK!
      xo
      Si

  14. I’ve cooked hard boiled eggs several times and I keep having this problem I don’t know how to fix. The eggs cook great, no green ring-perfect except when I peel them the whites are not white. They are dingy looking. Not very appetizing. Help 😬

    1. Hi Penny, are you cooking them for 5-8 minutes and then immediately switching on the pressure release? Also, make sure you place them in cold water right after they’re cooked.
      xo
      Si

  15. 5 stars
    I am at 7200 feet. Tried this at 7 min high pressure, 5 min natural release, then finished with manual release and immediately into ice water bath.
    The shells slid right off!!!
    I have failed so much at eggs and this is perfect!!! Never will I use the stove again.

  16. 5 stars
    I just made 4 medium eggs in my IP and they turned out perfectly! Got the 6 quart duo for Christmas and have been reading up on it like crazy. This was my first time using it and it was a nice, low risk “recipe” LOL
    I really appreciate your step by step specific instructions, helps take the nerves out of using it. I also really like that you past weight in oz for things like chicken breast that can very so much in size.
    Reading your blog now to decide what to make in here for dinner!

    1. Thank you for your review Carol! I’m glad you are getting familiar with the Instant Pot. I have a few new recipes coming up I think you will love, stay tuned!
      xo
      Si

    2. You’re very welcome, Carol. I’m glad you found this so helpful. The IP has been a such a time saver for me, and I love hearing from readers about their experience. Thanks for sharing!
      xo
      Si

  17. 5 stars
    This is the PERFECT way to cook hard boiled eggs. I will never do it another way. I followed Si’s instructions exactly and they worked like a charm!

    1. I agree, Pam, this is the easiest way to cook hard boiled eggs ever! Thanks for sharing and for reading ABK,
      xo
      Si

  18. 5 stars
    Thank you!!! I’m so happy I found you’re recipe, kept doing the 5-5-5 method involving natural release and kept getting the dreaded green rings, yuck! Finally saw this and said let’s do one egg high pressure 5 min quick release and right into ice bath. BOOM BABY! Perfect medium boiled egg I had. So I did 12 more at 6 min then quick release- ice bath- beautiful hard boiled eggs easy peel. Like magic! Thank you!!!

    1. You’re very welcome, Ashley! I agree, I’ll never go back to the old method after using the instant pot. Thanks for sharing and for reading ABK,
      xo
      Si

  19. 5 stars
    Hey Si!
    I live in Idaho falls which is basically the same elevation as Bountiful. I did the suggested 5, QPR, Ice bath and they ended up being medium! It’s for my deviled eggs, we shall see how it goes, but I only did half my batch so I tried 6 minutes after. No green rings on the eggs but the yolks had a tinge of green. However it did NPR for 1 min before I QPR so maybe that’s why?? Either way they are still so much easier to peel and more reliable!!

  20. 4 stars
    I feel like this method has changed my life! Yes, I tend to be a little dramatic. I cook for 6 minutes (873′ elevation) and they come out perfect every time. The peel beautifully and the yolk is creamy yet set and I just cannot rave enough! I did have a fluke incident the other day where the eggs were soft boiled and didn’t peel perfectly and I basically had to throw the batch away but other than the 1 incident I have marvelous success! Thanks for another great recipe!

    1. You’re welcome, Stacey, it’s been such a time saver for us! Thank you for sharing and for reading ABK,
      xo
      Si

  21. So I did multiple batches of eggs last night and at least half turned out runny. Of course we didn’t notice till we went to eat them this morning. Do you think when cooking batch after batch the 2nd, 3rd, 4th batch time needs to be adjusted? I don’t use instapot much 🤪

    1. Hi Andrea,
      It should not make a difference, but honestly, I am not sure? I have only done multiple small batches at one time, when I was testing (several times) the cook times for hard boiled vs soft, etc. I would think it should not make a difference, as long as you follow the proper cook (pressure) and release time. Was your pot properly sealed, meaning the sealing ring in place?
      So sorry this happened to you!
      Si

  22. Yes, you can still make this “Hard boiled egg” thing with sauce pan. I usually boiled it for around an hour on high temp electric stove, or for more than three hours on low. In case you want it more brown, you can even add some tea leaves.

  23. 5 stars
    This is the easiest recipe for hard boiled eggs, so easy to peel! Had a question Si, some InstantPot recipes say the “5-5-5” method, 5 min. on high pressure, 5 minutes natural release and then 5 in an ice bath. Do you think skipping a natural release makes a difference, as in your directions? I typically do the 5 minutes natural release (sometimes I forget that it’s releasing and it goes long, that’s why i’m asking the silly question), but haven’t tried foregoing that and releasing the pressure when done.

    1. Hi Cheryl,
      I think the extra 5 minutes in natural release overcooks the eggs! If you think about it, the eggs are cooking for an extra 5 minutes before the pressure is released and then cooled. By that time, the eggs will develop the green ring around the yolk. Not a silly question! Thanks for asking and hope this helps.
      XO
      Si

      1. 5 stars
        Thanks for the reply Si! I guess that does remain cooking the eggs, I always wondered about natural vs release valve.
        Because I did end up testing, the extra 5 natural release did give a green ring, slight, but it was there. Next time I know, and will follow yours to a tee!

  24. 5 stars
    This recipe was a total game changer for me! It’s the only way I make hard boiled eggs now. Saves so much time and hassle as the egg shells slide off so easily!

  25. 5 stars
    This recipe changed how we hard boil eggs forever! I didn’t even realize it could be done in the instant pot. It’s faster and sooo much easier to peel. This is the ultimate hardboiled egg hack.